


These are the Voyages

by Vialana



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Team Bonding, Voltron Week 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 21:33:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7730470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vialana/pseuds/Vialana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hunk never wanted to go into space.</p>
<p>For Voltron Week 2016 on Tumblr<br/>Day 1 Prompt: Space/Travel</p>
            </blockquote>





	These are the Voyages

**Author's Note:**

> Title is taken from the (in)famous Star Trek introduction.

Here’s the thing: Hunk never wanted to go into space. Sure, he’d signed up for Galaxy Garrison but to specialise as an _engineer_. Do you know the kind of stuff they were doing with aerospace and mechanical engineering on a base dedicated to space exploration? Neither did Hunk, but he wanted to. _So badly_. What few breakthroughs in science they actually allowed the public to read about were ground-breaking. Like, _Einstein’s work on light_ kind of turning science on it’s head.

So yeah, Hunk wanted in on that mind-expanding goodness. Just so long as he could keep his feet on the ground; which, considering that most people signing up to the Garrison actually wanted to be assigned to a ship even though they had to compete for a place, pretty much meant any ground engineer or mechanic post he wanted could be his if he worked hard enough.

He reaffirmed his desire to stay ground-side after the first time he puked in a simulator. And every other time. He’d lost count of his reaffirmations.

Space was kind of scary, when you thought about it. No air, no water, no food, no gravity. Literally emptiness. That fear baffled Lance just as Lance’s enthusiasm to break atmo confused Hunk. The two of them might have clicked almost instantly when they met on their first day at the Garrison, but the joys (or lack thereof) of space travel was one of the few topics on which they would never agree.

Hunk’s actually kind of glad that Lance is with him on this crazy Voltron Paladin adventure He’s used to playing along with Lance’s excitement about space travel and pushing aside his own discomfort, if only because he knew he’d have to get over his space hang-ups when he graduated regardless of his posting. It was just easier to ignore the fear in the back of his mind when Lance was waving off his (okay, valid) concern about potential airlock breaches with a smile and a promise that he wouldn’t let anything happen to his crew.

(Pidge also refrained from making snide comments when it was Hunk initiating the conversation, which he was grateful for. Otherwise, Pidge was savage about puncturing Lance’s ego. They weren’t exactly friends like he and Lance, but Pidge was kind and pretty cool – and had the best toys.)

It was different on the castle ship. Everything was much more immediate. Hunk didn’t really have much time to dwell on his fears when he was being shot at or forced to go through some ridiculous training exercise. Those first few days – being shot at, bonding with his Lion, forming Voltron, seeing constellations so unfamiliar it nearly caused a panic attack, food goo – were probably the roughest Hunk had ever experienced. Boot camp had nothing on paladin training.

On the plus side: he didn’t really have time or energy to miss home.

On the negative side: he didn’t really have time or energy to miss home and felt guilty about it.

Hunk had never planned to go into space, never wanted that risk and responsibility and fear. So, it surprises him to realise that he actually loves being a paladin.

He loves his weird mismatched team and their odd chemistry that sprung out of nowhere but felt so right and familiar almost the instant they met.

He loves his Lion, bright and sturdy and warm in his mind. Hunk will unashamedly admit this, but the fact that the rest of the paladins feel the same way makes this feeling even better.

He even almost loves this weird castle ship (and it’s store of food goo) – potential hauntings and all (thanks Lance for the stories and sleepless nights).

And he’s proud of their mission, this heroic deed he never thought himself capable of attempting.

Hunk had never wanted to go into space but he’s here now. He has a team – friends – with him on this crazy journey and sometimes it feels like they can’t be beaten.

Sometimes, there are moments when the fears lurking in the back of his mind suddenly lurch to the front. But now, when he thinks too hard about how far away from Earth they are, he remembers Lance boasting about that time he got a perfect score in the simulator thanks to Hunk’s timely engine repairs. When he concentrates too hard on the rumble of the castle’s engine while trying to sleep at night, he thinks about Lance pretending that Pidge dared him to do a fly-by of the sun on another sim. When he looks out of the observation window and sees empty blackness overshadowing the tiny pinpricks of light in the distance, he thinks about that first flight in Blue – the five of them crammed together in Lance’s cockpit, the first look at the stars without atmosphere distorting the view, and that brief skip in his heart as he finally understood the wonder and passion his fellow paladins shared for the universe beyond their tiny planet.

Hunk had never wanted to go into space; but, now that he was up here, he was so glad to have been dragged along by his friends into one of the greatest adventures of his life.

The Yellow Paladin was going to make a difference in this galaxy.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr under [ladyvialana](https://ladyvialana.tumblr.com/)


End file.
